Search - Playmates :: At Play with the Playmates: Golden Classics

Great stuff

Gregory Glading | 11/15/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Dude, this is some of the better yet least known 50s music you'll ever find. "What is Love" and "Joanne" are hugely underrated among that genre. Let's not even get into "Beep, Beep" which also is way cool."

Look for the Unexpected

Gregory Glading | Polk City, FL | 10/29/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The Playmates are, unfortunately, best known for their "hit" Beep Beep. They say in Latin "Non es Disputendum" or there is no arguing about tastes. Well sorry to say that I find "Beep Beep" an insufferably annoying novelty song. So how does a CD featuring a song that I find thoroughly obnoxious earn four stars? That's because if "Beep Beep" is everything bad about an era, the Playmates song "Wait For Me" is everything that's good about their era. "Wait For Me" features lovely vocal harmony and skilled arrangement unheard in today's popular music. Unlike the rediculous "Beep Beep" and it's little mash Rambler challenging a Cadillac, "Wait For Me" tells an intricate and touching tale. Unlike most story telling songs, "Wait for Me" never lets its lyrics interfer with its music. "Wait For Me" alone is worth the price of the CD."

Sweater-Vest Geek Comedy

Brian Chidester | Los Angeles, CA United States | 06/18/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"With one foot firmly planted in novelty antics, and the other moving into Modern vocal territory, the Playmates leave an interesting legacy at a time when disparate genres were converging to form the teen expression of the 1950s: rock 'n' roll. The Playmates are not the best vocalists of their era, nor do their arrangements reach the dynamic height of the Drifters or Connie Francis records. Still, there is something musical on this CD that is worth noting.



Novelty songs had their place throughout the '50s and '60s in pop music, with several charting respectfully. "Beep Beep," by the Playmates, was not only the group's biggest hit, but a novelty classic that sounds down-right experimental in hindsight. The Playmates achieved a comedy that might not have been considered hip or cool in their day (in contrast with the hip-shaking of Elvis Presley or the swagger 'n sneer of Gene Vincent & his Blue-Caps), but their brand of barbershop pop was sentimental and suburban, without being redundant.



Alongside "Beep Beep," Collectibles represents all of the Playmates cuts you'll ever need. "Wait for Me" is a magical ballad vocal and "Joanne" is one lovely teenage paeon, predicting the Venus-vibe of future teen crooners like Frankie Avalon and Fabian. Other highlights include "What is Love?" and "The Day I Died." I find it interesting to see how their ideas started to come together in a chronological order. Multiple listenings are required, but you will get the point with one good listen."